France to reform wolf management policies

In June of last year, Stéphane Travert, French Minister for Agriculture, and Nicolas Hulot, the Minister for theEnvironment, announced a reform of France’s wolf policy management plan, aiming to ensure the viability of the species in France while protecting ranchers and farm animals. A consultation was launched in fall of 2017 with representatives of ranchers, NGOs and local officials. Since January 8, this plan has been submitted for public consultation and has received more than 5,700 contributions. Several elements coming from the public consultation and local actors were integrated into the updated version of the plan.

The wolf plan’s goal is to come up with a new method of managing the species, founded on a better understanding of wolves and their lifestyles, in order to better protect them and to also allow for protecting ranchers and livestock. It has resulted in the following methodological changes:

A better integration of data and scientific knowledge in order to better understand and count the population of wolves in France and to manage the effects of their presence.

The implementation of a multi-year plan of wolf managing which will allow for a more long-term vision

Giving more authority to local officials

Revising the governance of the wolf plan with the integration of local authorities.